Publicity
by Hallucinating Skys
Summary: Naruto was going to take him down. He was going to do whatever it took to take Neji down and make him pay for what he did! That is...if a certain bastard didn't get in the way. SasuNaru. Others. AU.
1. Prolouge: Stunt

**Warning:** Eventually, there will be boyxboy. So if you dont like it you can go ahead and click that back arrow in the upper left corner. [:

**Disclaimer:** Sadly, I don't own Naruto. I'm kinda glad I don't though...'cause if I did, I would eff it up. I've already said this before though. And as you all know, Naruto and all the characters belong to Kishimoto-sensei.

**Summary**: It was a publicity stunt. Neji broke up with Naruto, but it turns out there was nothing to break in the first place. It was all fake. A lie. Of course, Naruto won't go down so easily. He's going to take down the Hyuuga, and what better way to do that by destroying his career-the only thing that ever seemed to really matter? Naruto will become a better model and ultimately rub it in his stupid face, that is if he can ever get past a certain dark-haired bastard. SasuNaru AU

**A/U:** This is loosely based on Skip Beat, if you can't already tell by the summary. The plot will change though, alot. It's not too much like it in the beginning, anyways. I hope you like this. Oh, and for those of you who read "The better way" this is not the fic I was talking about that i wanted to post soon. That one is coming probably after thanksgiving. But I love this one just as much. Really long author's note...go ahead and read. [:

* * *

**Publicity**

**Prolouge: Stunt**

* * *

Naruto stared wide eyed as his boyfriend lowered onto one knee in the middle of the open-air café. He reached into the pocket of his dark slacks and pulled out a small black box as the string quartet began a soft melody. Neji slowly opened the box. Nestled in the lavender cushion was a sparkling ring, silver and white gold pieces lined up side by side, making the band of the ring, and sitting in between the two ends, sharply and expertly cut was a clear, shining diamond.

"Naruto…" Neji began in a silken voice. His lavender eyes looked directly into Naruto's. "Will you marry me?"

The blonde's breath caught as he stared unbelieving at the kneeling brunet before him. This couldn't be happening; Impossible. Hyuuga Neji—_The_ Hyuuga Neji, target of most girls in Japan—was asking him to…marry him? It was too good to be true.

A wide grin split his tan face, "Yes…Yes…Yes!"

Neji smiled and slipped the ring onto Naruto's slim finger. He rose to his feet, taking his fiancé into a deep kiss.

Cameras flashed from the shadow of the bushes.

* * *

Naruto hummed happily as he walked down the halls of Hyuuga agencies. A bento wrapped in an orange fushigoki cloth was held secured in his arms as if it was his most prized possession—and in a way, it was. It was going to his most important person, after all.

"Hinata-chan!" He called as he saw the dark-haired girl exit her dressing room. She turned, a small smile bringing light to her soft features when her pupil-less grey eyes landed on Naruto. She was dressed in a simple strapless dress that nearly swept the floor, allowing only the tips of her sandaled feet to peak out. A woven wide-brimmed hat sat atop her head, a lavender scarf tied in a bow around the top. Her long black hair cascaded down her back in waves and framed her milky white complexion, cheeks dusted with a light pink. There was no doubt that she was a beauty; the top ranking model amongst the females at Hyuuga agency. Neji, her cousin, dominated the male population, of course.

"Hi, Naruto-kun," she greeted in a quiet voice. Even though she was the best female model, and the heir to the Hyuuga family, the girl was far from outspoken—quite the contrary, actually.

"You look pretty," Naruto commented with a smile, causing the pink on Hinata's cheeks to deepen. "Are you heading for a shoot?"

She nodded.

"Good luck, then. Oh, do you know where Neji is? He wasn't in his usual room,"

"He's in room six, he just finished his morning work," she answered.

"Perfect. Thanks, Hinata," Naruto smiled at the girl and eagerly headed off to the designated room. He had spent all of the previous night and part of the morning preparing the bento for Neji, and after four fails, he had finally got it right. He only hoped Neji hadn't eaten yet.

Naruto stopped before the door marked with a white 'six'. He reached for the door but paused when he noticed it was already slightly ajar and voices spilled out into the hallway.

"Why are you so tired today, anyway?" asked a female, who's voice Naruto recognized to be Neji's manager: Tenten.

The voice that answered could only belong to one Hyuuga Neji. "Because that damn brat kept me up all night," he said with an exasperated sigh.

"Oh? I hope you two didn't wake up the neighbors,"

Neji scoffed. "Like hell. He was in the kitchen all night banging pots and pans. He's lucky he's not fat, considering the way he eats—though I have noticed some extra pounds lately…And besides that, he is such a slob. When I woke up this morning he was asleep in the kitchen surrounded by the mess he had made,"

"How cute," Tenten said. "Did the ever cross your mind that he was making your lunch? He makes those things for you all the time, even though it's pretty pointless since you always throw it away—"

"You expect me to _eat_ that? You've got to be kidding. It's full of fat and it tastes like shit,"

"Stop being so over dramatic," she said. Then muttered, "I swear you're such a girl sometimes,"

"I'm serious," Neji stated. "He's good for nothing. He can't cook, can't clean, the only reason he has a job is because he is kind of good looking and the only reason he is keeping it is because of me,"

Naruto stood motionless outside the door; a stunned expression froze on his face and the bento hanging limply from his fingers. Inside, Neji slumped onto the couch beside Tenten.

"If you hate him so much, why are you still with him?" she asked. "You never did tell me,"

"The publicity," He groaned. "People were apparently starting to lose interest, so some idiot came up with the idea of me dating. I needed someone within the agency, but not someone to popular who had the possibility to over-shadow me. That was around the time he started working here. He fit the criteria so we started dating and then came the even brighter idea of us getting engaged," He rolled his eyes. "The profits and ratings are up, but I doubt it's worth having to be with him 24/7,"

"So, are you really going to marry him?"

Neji let out something like a sarcastic laugh, "Hardly. The plan is to dump him next month—if I can even last that long,"

"I kind of feel bad for him, though. I mean, he thinks it's real. He's obviously in love with you," said Tenten.

"Don't give that _thing_ your sympathy, he doesn't deserve it. He's an idiot, he's annoying, and he has been following me around like a dog ever since we got 'engaged'," Neji smirked, pulling Tenten into his lap. "Besides, you're much better than him,"

Neji froze just as he began to lean in for a kiss, feeling a murderous aura coming from the door. He cautiously turned, only to be faced with the solid black wood that was the closed door. That is until said wood was knocked down with a crash and in the vacant spot stood a vehement blonde.

"…Naruto?" Neji said hesitantly, his voice an octave higher in what was presumably fear. He cleared his throat and asked in his usual, 'I'm-better-than-everyone-and-everybody-else-is-inferior' tone, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be downstairs working?"

When Naruto remained silent, Neji's gaze slid down to the bento that was being held in the blonde's trembling hand. "Oh, did you bring me my lunch?"

"Why would you want to eat this shit?" Naruto murmured hardly above a whisper.

Neji froze. "W-What?"

"You're just going to dump it anyway."

…_Shit._

Still, he tried to play it cool. "What are you talking about, Naru? Have you—"

"Don't play stupid, Neji. That's my job, remember?" Naruto said in a cold, flat voice that seemed unfit for the petite blonde, but at the same time suited him perfectly.

Neji opened his mouth to speak but before he could do so, a bento was being flung across the room toward him at an unnatural speed. Neji let out a girlish scream and ducked behind Tenten, leaving his manager to fend for herself. She held up a hand to shield her face, resulting in the small bento smashing against her wrist and undoubtedly fracturing something. As it clattered to the floor, the fushigoki came undone and the broken bento, along with its contents, spilled to the floor. The carpet was covered in a thick mound of rice, seaweed, and assortment of fillings—in the end, Naruto had only been able to make onigiri, but even those turned out a bit deformed. Neji quickly got off the couch and retreated to the opposite wall, as far away from his violent 'fiancé' as possible.

This couldn't be Naruto—Neji wouldn't believe it. The person who stood before him now was not the same blonde who he had been with for the past year. This person was completely different—an otherworldly creature. Killer intent radiated off of him in crashing waves, his body shook with unsatisfied hate. Something about the man before him brought a feeling mostly unknown to Neji—was it…fear?

But when the blonde shifted slightly, and his bangs swayed to the side, Neji caught a glimpse of his eyes; the beautiful, doe eyes. Azure orbs filled with hurt, saddened hate, and despair—almost to the point of over flowing. Whatever feeling he had felt before was vanished, and Neji swelled with a newfound confidence. Yes, this was the same person he knew. The person he had wrapped around his finger, which he could control and move to his will. The person he could ultimately crush.

"So it was all a lie?" questioned Naruto.

Neji smirked, straightening up. "You're not as stupid as you look,"

"H…How could…?" he started, choking on the words.

"I needed someone and you were the only decent option," he shrugged. "Easy,"

Naruto said nothing, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall.

"Don't act surprised. You couldn't honestly think that someone like me would love someone like you. Fate has something much greater in store for me," Neji said with a toss of his hair, looking down at the trembling blonde.

"Well I actually like to eat, instead of starving myself. I'm sorry I'm an idiot and not some rich prick who think he knows everything. And I'm sorry my I don't come from a line of prestigious assholes," Naruto spat.

The brunet narrowed his pale eyes at him. "Watch your mouth you ungrateful shit. You should be thanking me, the only reason a few people know your name is because of me; because you're with me. The little publicity stunt worked out for the both of us, it's not like you have any real talent, anyway,"

Naruto stalked toward the man, head low, bands falling askew and casting a shadow across his eyes. Neji merely looked at him with condescending eyes, unaffected by the shorter man—even enjoying it some extent. That is until said shorter man punched him square in the face with all the strength he possessed.

* * *

**A/U:** So how was it? I hope you all enjoyed it, as much as I liked writing it. Though some of the dialouge was a bit hard for me to write...I'm sorry if there are any grammatical errors toward the end, I didn't get to edit that part because in about twenty minutes I am going on a road trip to chicago and I still haven't finished packing. Eheh.

Reviews make me update WAY faster. Really, they do. So review! (You see that? I even rhymed for you guys. that should make you want to review even more).

Ja


	2. Two Ruined Plans

**Disclaimer:** We all know I don't own Naruto or any of the characters, so lets just continue on and avoid me taking a blow to my self-esteem.

**A/U:** While editing this I am tired as fuck and I have to pee. This week has been hell. For the past week I have had swine flu, then yesterday I had to write a long ass essay and it didn't help that someone was walkinga around my house in a speedo while I was trying to do it. That's my family for ya. Oh and yes, I changed by name but it is the same pocky bandiit, not an imposter. I won't be changing my name again after this, so don't worry. **Important! I am looking for a beta! Leave a review or PM me if you're interested.**

* * *

_"I'm gonna beat you, Hyuuga!" The blonde snarled. "I'm gonna destroy you and then maybe you'll feel a _fraction_ of something close to what I feel now. I will become the best without you or your fucking help!" He yanked the ring that adorned his finger and held it tightly until the sharp edges of the diamond cut into his palm. He knew that it had all been a lie; he knew it as he stared down at Neji with such hatred and loathing. The pain in his chest was quick to tell him that, but this definitely wasn't over. He dropped the ring at the feet of the brunet. "Goodbye, Neji,"_

_With that, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the room, muttering under his breath all the while. "I'll crush you, just wait,"_

_'Yes, it was too good to be true_._'_

Naruto groaned as he remembered his parting 'conversation' with his, now ex, fiancé. Now he was beginning to regret it. Not all of it—the prick deserved the punch, and oh god had it felt good—just the whole part where he promised he would become the best and beat the prick—which had become Naruto's official name for the man.

…How the hell was he supposed to live up to those words? He'd practically dug a grave for himself. Maybe that was it; he could bury himself in a hole somewhere and then eventually the prick would forget all about this. But that was highly unlikely since the prick seemed to remember everything, he would surely make Naruto's life a living hell if his 'becoming the best' ended up being a job in some greasy burger joint—which was probably what would happen at the rate he was going. Besides, burying himself alive didn't sound like the best thing. Onto plan two!

He could move out of the country, go some place like America. But it wasn't like he had any money to go there. He'd quit his job shortly after his blow up with the prick, and he didn't have any money saved up. Hell, he barely had a penny to his name! He had spent all of his salary from the agency on rent for the apartment he and the prick had shared. Naruto should've kept the apartment but, in a hurry to get out of the place that reminded him so much of the prick, he had merely shoved whatever clothes of his he could find into a duffel bag, grabbed his belongings, and gotten out of the damned place as quickly as he could. That was why he was now living with Iruka, his old school teacher and a current professor as Tokyo University. (Naruto had been his pupil back when he was a elementary school teacher, however.)

No matter how he looked at it, everything always came back to that prick. He had screwed Naruto over. But then again, he should've seen it coming; the signs were all there. After they had gotten engaged, the sweet-heart crap stopped almost immediately. Yeah, the prick acted so lovey-dovey in public, just as he had before, kissing, flirting, holding hands—all the things that Naruto now considered gag-worthy. That changed as soon as they got home. When they were in private, the prick was standoffish, secluded, and blew up about the smallest things. He refused to let anyone—i.e. Naruto—touch him, and almost always ended the night by slamming the bedroom door, resulting in Naruto taking up the couch for the night—it probably had an indent of his body by now. At the time, Naruto had merely thought that the prick's sudden change in demeanor was due to the frustration and stress caused by work and the media. And being the _understanding_ boyfriend-brainwashed by 'love'-that he was, Naruto merely let it go without further question.

The moments that the two of them spent in public always ended up on a magazine. A photo of the two showing some type of affection would be splayed across the front cover of various magazines, paired with a cheesy or perverted caption. On one issue a few months back there was a picture of the prick kissing Naruto while pinning him against the wall outside a designers shop, written in bold lettering along the bottom of said picture it read 'Neji tops!' The article then went on to talk about the prick's career at the top of the charts.

If he really had wanted to, Naruto could have easily realized what was happening. But the thing was, he hadn't wanted to. He had wanted to enjoy one of the few good things that had happened to him in a long while, even if it was fake.

"Naruto? Are you awake?" called a gentle voice from outside the room.

"Yeah, I'm awake," replied the blonde as he sat up in bed.

The door opened and in stepped Iruka, dressed in a dark wine-colored sweater atop a white collared shirt and tan slacks. His brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, as usual. He smiled warmly at Naruto, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," he said, only half lying.

He now only had pure hatred for the prick, that he could manage to keep in check…sometimes, but the first few days after the break up had been hell. He had cried most of the time, then wallowed in self-pity, and then he had just went on a rampage, and during all this time Iruka had no idea what was going on. Naruto hadn't told Iruka much of anything about him and the prick. They only reason that Iruka had found out the two had been dating in the first place was because of all the publicity their relationship got—guess the prick got something out of it after all. It wasn't that Naruto didn't trust the Iruka, that wasn't it at all. Iruka was like an over protective mother to him. He got that crazy look in his eye that only mothers could get when their child did something bad, but then a moment later was completely back to normal, into loving mode; once again only something mothers could do. That's how it was when Iruka found out Naruto had dropped out of school (another thing that had been the pricks fault!), except the crazy look seemed to be prolonged—and it didn't help that Naruto tried to lighten the mood by saying his dream had always been to become a garbage man, anyway, and he would be joining the union the next day; yeah, don't joke with Iruka when he's mad, just don't do it. At the time, Naruto just hadn't been in the mood to tell him about the prick; he was near tears and it was taking all of his energy, and the support of the wall, to just stand in Iruka's doorway. And since then, there just hadn't been a right to tell him. Iruka, of course, had let him in without a question and for the past week and a half he had patiently waited for Naruto to bring it up himself.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Go and shape those young minds, don't worry about me," Naruto said with a cheesy grin.

"You could be one of those young minds, you know,"

"Nope, the union is having a meeting tonight, I'm much to busy,"

Iruka narrowed his brown eyes.

Don't joke around with Iruka even after the incident. The wounds are still fresh.

"Kidding. Kidding."

"Try to go out and get some air, alright?"

"Yep."

Iruka smiled, "Bye, Naruto,"

"Bye bye," Naruto grinned, waving animatedly as the door shut behind the brunet.

He fell back with a huff. No way in hell was he leaving the comfort and warmth of this bed.

**-.-.-**

Yeah, so much for that plan. Two hours later he was showered, dressed, his teeth were brushed, and his hair was arranged in a somewhat decent looking condition.

Naruto walked out of the convenience store in a better mood than he had been in in the past week and a half. Thanks to the money Iruka had left him for food, he had a bag full of instant ramen, a couple packs of chocolate and strawberry pocky, and a new dartboard: the cover of 'Fighting Dreamers' Magazine. What really made him happy, however, was that the cover of the magazine featured a picture of the prick sporting a lovely broken nose. Had it been anyone else, Naruto would've actually felt bad, but being that it was the prick, he felt no remorse what so ever. Quite the contrary, actually.

When he first saw the magazine, he was ecstatic and had grinned wildly at the magazine rack for ten minutes or so—which earned him worried and frightened looks from the store clerk who was probably having a mental war on whether to call 911 and report a missing asylum patient, or just pull out the gun from under the counter right then and there if all else failed.

The only thing that irked him about the magazine, was that it claimed the prick had broken his nose saving a cat. A cat. From a fucking tree. There was even a statement from the 'old lady', who the supposed cat belonged to, thanking the prick. Leave it to him to turn something like a broken nose into publicity for himself, good publicity—Naruto was beginning to think that was the only thing he ever did.

But really, that was the best he could come up with? A cat? A fucking cat? And from a tree nonetheless! Naruto would just over look the fact that a cat had taken credit for the pleasant adjustment he made to the prick's face and then maybe he would have a chance at keeping his sanity. But seriously, saving a cat? How do you break your nose saving a cat? In a way, it was a good thing though. If not for the prick having so much pride, Naruto probably would have been gotten a big fat lawsuit for assaulting him. And that was something he obviously did not have the money to pay.

"Oi!"

Naruto, shook from his thoughts, looked up at the sudden shout. Amongst all the people who bustled through the crowded sidewalk, his eyes happened to land upon a small white dog darting out into the busy traffic a few yards ahead of him. His body reacted on it's own. In a moment, he found himself running out into the street, having abandoned his belongings on the sidewalk, and snatching up the dog as cars honked fiercely and attempted to screech to a stop. He rolled to the ground as he attempted to keep the dog close to him, the hard asphalt scratching the exposed skin of his arms. He stared wide-eyed around him while his chest heaved, disbelieving what he had just done. Yipping caught his attention and he looked down to see big black eyes staring at him. Naruto grinned. Well at least the dog was okay.

He climbed to his feet, ignoring the shouts of "What the hell, kid?" and "Get the fuck out of the way!" as he walked back to the sidewalk.

"Akamaru!" A teen shouted, running toward Naruto. He took the dog, presumably Akamaru, from the blonde, holding it closely to his chest. "Holy shit, Akamaru, you scared me!"

Naruto merely watched as the teen snuggled Akamaru. Said teen looked to be around Naruto's age and was only two or three inches taller than him. He had shaggy dark brown hair and bangs that were being pushed back by a pair of red sunglasses that sat perched atop his head. Tattooed on each of his cheeks was an upside down red triangle. After a good couple minutes of freaking out over his dog, he looked at Naruto with sharp dark brown eyes. "Shit, man, thanks,"

"No problem," he said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck—a habit he had picked up when he was younger.

"No, really, man. I don't know what I would've done if something happened to Akamaru. How can I pay you back?"

Naruto noted the slightest hint of a western accent that laced the brunet's speech. "It's okay; you don't need to do anything,"

"At least let me take you to lunch? My treat,"

No matter how tempting the prospect of free food was, Naruto wasn't about to go with some guy he'd just met. It wasn't even the fact that he had just met him that kept the blonde from going, he loved meeting new people, but he just wasn't in the mood. Right now, all he wanted to do was go back to Iruka's and sleep. "It's okay, really,"

"You sure?"

"Yeah,"

"Well at least tell me your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto," he said quickly, figuring the brunet would try to look up his address and send him a muffin basket as thanks—though he really didn't look like the type, dressed in a worn jacket and ripped blue jeans that were tucked into scuffed cowboy boots. Who the hell sent muffin baskets, anyway, no matter the type?

The teen grinned, showing off abnormally sharp canines. "Nice ta meet ya,"

"Yeah, you too," Naruto matched the facial gesture with one of his own.

"Aw, shit, I gotta go," The brunet said, catching sight of the clock on top of one of the corporate buildings. "Thanks again, Ja!"

Naruto watched as the brunet disappeared into the crowd of people, Akamaru, having jumped from his arms, trotting happily at his side. It was funny; he knew the dog's name, yet not the persons. Not funny really, just...odd.

He turned and went back to get his dropped groceries. Nothing good came from going out like Iruka had suggested. He'd risked his life and nearly caused a massive car crash in order to save a dog. Tcch, still better than breaking his nose to save a cat in a tree.

**-.-.-**

The next morning Naruto's plan for the day included sleeping and staying in bed all day watching TV, only getting up to eat and pee. Those were his plans, but he only got to 11 a.m. before he was rudely interrupted.

"Uzumaki Naruto!"

Naruto nearly fell out of the bed at the booming voice. No, not nearly, he did. He fell flat on his face and onto the hardwood floor, to be exact. He stayed there for some moments, eyes darting around the room in search for something he could use as a weapon if it was a criminal who had busted in. But if it was a criminal, he wouldn't have specifically gone to the guest room—Naruto's temporary room—and shouted 'Uzumaki Naruto', now would he?

Naruto peaked over the bed, being cautious just incase it really was a criminal, (or maybe a murdered who was after him. Yeah, that would make sense. But why would someone want to kill him? Maybe the guy was an assassin hired by the prick as pay back for breaking his nose! It was something he would do; he was that crazy about his looks.) to see a tall, middle-aged man with a wild mane of white hair down his back, standing in the doorway.

"What the hell? You don't just go breaking into people's rooms ya damn pervert!" screeched Naruto as he jumped to his feet.

"Pervert? Who're callin' a pervert? And stop being so damn loud!"

"You're the one who came busting in here like the friggin' kool-aid man!"

"How abou—!" Jiraiya stopped mid-sentence, taking a deep breath to calm himself. He had a reason for being there; he didn't need to be fighting with the blonde brat. "Look, get ready, we're going,"

Naruto lifted his eyebrows. "Going where?"

"Out,"

"Out where?"

"To lunch."

"Why?"

"Stop asking so many damn questions and go get ready!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man but said nothing and silently went about getting dressed.

**-.-.-**

"So what's been up with you lately, kid? Iruka called me this morning and said you've been moping around since you get there. He's worried about you," Jiraiya said as he stirred cream into his coffee. The two sat at a small booth in the back of a ramen shop—which, of course, had been Naruto's pick. When there was no answer from the blonde, save for the slurping of ramen, he pressed on. "Does it have something to do with that Hyuuga Neji?"

Talk about hitting the nail right on the head.

Naruto froze. His grip tightened on the bowl and stench of loathing radiated off of him. "Do not. Say. His name," he hissed in a low, pained voice. "That mother fucking son of a bitch just thinnka he's so much better than everyone else. Goddamn egotistical asshole just thinks he can walk all over people. I'll fucking teach that prick…" he continued ranting under his breath, using every word he could think of to describe Neji as Jiraiya watched with interest.

"Anything you want to talk about?"

**-.-.-**

"So that's it?" Jiraiya asked twenty minutes later after being fully informed about everything that had gone on between Naruto and Neji—or 'the prick', as Naruto took to calling him since the breakup.

"What do you mean that's it? That's all you can say after I just spilled my heart?" Jiraiya rolled his eyes at the blonde's over-exaggeration.

"Well what're you going to do?"

"Whaddya mean?"

"You know what I mean. What are you going to do about Nej—that kid?" asked Jiraiya, catching himself before they had a repeat of earlier.

"What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"Beat his ass of course!"

"And how do I do that? I told you before, I don't have a chance. I quit my job and no other agency will take me," Naruto sighed.

Jiraiya studied the blonde for a moment, taking him in from an outsider's perspective. Messy golden-blonde hair covered his head, a bit over-grown but would look good after a trim. Bright azure eyes drew a person in right away, standing out against his bronze complexion. He was only 5"7' or so, not the perfect height for a guy but good enough, and had a thin frame. The three whisker-like scars on each of his cheeks, along with his upbeat personality that few had nowadays, made him especially unique. The kid had talent and Jiraiya wouldn't let it go to waste. He just needed to be lead in the right direction. "You never know until you try,"

"Huh?"

Jiraiya rose from the table. He took a few bills from his wallet and threw them on the table for the food.

"Where are you going?" Naruto asked, still seated.

"_We_ are going to see an old friend of mine.

**-.-.-**

"Well if it isn't the old hermit himself," The buxom blonde seated behind the large glass desk said as the doors shut behind her new visitor.

"I see you haven't changed a bit, you old hag," Jiraiya said as he took a seat in one of the chairs placed before said blonde.

"Tcch. What do you want?"

"What makes you think I want something?"

Honey brown eyes narrowed as Tsunade scrutinized the white-haired man.

"Fine, fine. I have a…proposal for you,"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, reaching into her bottom desk drawer for her hidden stash of sake. She already knew she would need alchohal—and lots of it—to get her through this.

"I have new material for you," He started, pulling a folder from his briefcase. "Someone who will guarantee you success,"

"Go on…"

"Uzumaki Naruto, male, 5"7', blonde hair, blue eyes, tan skin, perfect health, your new model,"

Tsunade took the offered folder, flipping through the pictures as she drank the cup of sake she had poured a moment earlier. "So, he's cute, so what?"

"He's more than that, Tsunade. He's a good kid, and he's meant for the job. He has the heart and spirit,"

"A lot of people have heart and spirit, that doesn't mean they've got what it takes. Why'd you take him to me, of all people? You could've gone to any other company, yet you came here,"

"It's not because I was hoping for a favor, if that's what you were thinking. I came to you because you're the best…or at least you claim to be,"

Tsunade smirked. "Even if you do have so much faith in him, Jiraiya, that doesn't mean I can just hire him. He needs actual talent,"

"He has talent!" he protested. "Look at his file; he worked for the Hyuuga Agencies,"

"And why didn't he stay with them if he already had a job in the industry?"

"…Personal reasons,"

"Hm…" mumbled Tsunade as she skimmed through the written portion of the file. "It says here he was one of the lower level models, skipped work most of the time, and even when he did show up, there was a low productivity rate. Sorry, Jiraiya, I want to help you, but I can't. I'm in no position to do so,"

"You're the president."

"I have to think about what is good for my company,"

"And _he_ will be good for your company. There's not anything that could change your mind?"

Tsunade threw back another shot, slamming the cup down on her desk as he mulled it over. "Well…I suppose if I got a recommendation saying that he was good enough…"

"I'm saying he's good enough!" Jiraiya shouted.

"You don't count!" Tsunade shot back.

The two turned as the door to the office opened suddenly, interrupting the both of them as a new member stepped into the conversation.

"I'll vouch for him,"

* * *

A/U: Cliffy! Kinda... Heh heh. I got the idea of Naruto saving Akamaru from my trip to chicago. I saw a dog run into the street, except no one tried to save it and it got hit by a car. It was sad, the car didn't even stop to see if the dog was okay. But the dog did get back up...though he was limping and probably had a concussion. I never want to see something like that again... anyways! Review! Next chapter will be dedicated to you if you can guess who is vouching for Naru.

Next Chapter: Sasuke comes into the picture!

Thanks for reading and I will love you forever if you review.

Ja.


	3. Amateur

_This chapter is dedicated to Darkheim for guessing correctly who it was who vouched for Naruto! Heh heh. (:_

**Warnings:** Boyxboy, language, un-beta'd

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, blah blah blah, don't make me anymore depressed.

**A/N:** There's a **POLL UP** on my profile, 'which fic should I write next?' , **VOTE** after you read this please. (:

Anyone have any ideas for persuasional speech topics? Letting me know of some would be much appreciated.

_SnowWhiteQueen2009:_ Yesh! I love you forevers and evers!

**Naruto:** Hopefully we won't have to see that asshole this chapter since _Ellie Lights _super power punched him into the next millenuim back in chapter one. She's my favorite now. -Glomps-

Enjoy.

* * *

Here Tsunade was, giving Jiraiya a chance, and what had he brought her? Nothing but a little runt. Truthfully, before his retirement the white-haired man had an unmatched taste when it came to potential talents and who so ever he took under his wing became a big hit throughout the country. But maybe his break from the showbiz industry and all that writing had dulled his sense for talent, because the boy standing before he certainly wasn't much.

He stood awkwardly at 5'8" with his hands shoved into his pockets and his legs placed as if he had to pee. Sure, he had potential to be good looking, but the unkempt condition he seemed to be in made him look simply…average. His tan skin was slightly oily and he had three slashes on each of his cherub cheeks, looking odd and displaced on his face. Golden hair covered his head in a distressed mop, spiking up un-expectantly in some places and laying limp in others; it remained untrimmed and too long, uneven and jagged along the bottom and throughout the layers. Blue eyes just barely peaked out from behind a mass of overgrown bangs that had to be causing some type of vision problem. He wore a dull, worn-out orange sweatshirt that did everything but flatter his seemingly lean frame, along with distressed jeans, and a pair of tattered sneakers.

Nothing about the way he looked inclined Tsunade to except him into her company, nor did it tell her that he had any enthusiasm or desire to join it himself. This _had_ to be a joke.

"Who's this brat?" she asked bluntly, unimpressed with the entire ordeal.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Jiraiya sanswered swiftly before the blonde, who had opened his mouth to retort with an annoyed look etched on his face, could answer. "He's the one I was telling you about earlier,"

She turned to her computer monitor and began typing away at the keyboard. "I don't have time for this, Jiraiya, I have work to do. Either bring me the real person, or get out,"

"Oi, ya old hag, I am the real deal," The blonde snapped.

A pause in which the mouse of the computer could be heard crushing under Tsunade's grip, and then, "What did you just say?"

"Ohhh, I forgot, you're probably going def, huh?" he said, continuing to taunt the woman's temper. He cleared his throat and spoke in a loud, clear voice, enunciating each word, "I am the real deal."

From a seat beside the large office window, Kiba—who had been the one who sold Tsunade on meeting with the blonde, 'Naruto', in the first place—sing-songed, amused, "Blondie's gonna get his ass whooped,"

Jiraiya shrugged, smiling. "Let him learn his lesson the hard way,"

"No, a little before that…Something to do with being 'old'," Tsunade spoke in a dangerously calm voice.

"Ah…" Naruto grinned. "Old hag."

_Crash._

The bottle shattered into tiny pieces as it hit the door of the office. The warm liquid slid down the frosted glass and a series of spider web cracks formed where the bottle had made its impact. Good thing Naruto had ducked in time, or it would be his skull with pretty little cracks in it.

"What the hell?! Are you trying to kill me old lady?!"

_Smash._

And this time it was three sake cups smashing simultaneously against the door.

"You want to try calling me that again, brat?!" Tsunade shouted, partially raised out of her seat.

"It's true…" he grumbled under his breath.

Her eyes narrowed to slits but she still sat back in her seat. She sniffed indignantly, "Made me waste a perfectly good bottle of sake,"

"How is that my fault?! You threw it at me!" Naruto squawked.

"Anyway, brat, what the hell do you want?" she inquired, leaning back. When Naruto looked at Jiraiya expectantly, she added harshly, "I want to hear it from you,"

He paused, and then asked outright, "You can make me a model, right?"

"I _could_…what of it?"

"What else would I be here for, then?"

"Don't get smart with me," Tsunade warned. "I'm giving you a chance, but I can always kick you out now,"

"…Gomen," The blonde apologized, and then mumbled something incoherent under his breath.

"Hm? What was that?"

"I want you to make me a model," He spit out quickly, refusing to look at the woman.

"Uh-huh…why?"

This time, as he spoke his words, his eyes did meet hers. Flat and unreadable, but filled with determination, the blue orbs told it just as he did. "There's someone I need to beat."

Tsunade froze, staring at the blonde. Only, for the slightest second, it wasn't the blonde standing there, but a light-haired brunet of the same height with sparkling green eyes who shared the very same willpower as him. The image was gone a moment later, but a gentle smile on the woman's face was left in its wake. A sense of nostalgia overcame Jiraiya as he watched her; it'd been a long time since he'd seen her wear an expression such as that.

"Alright, brat, I'll give you a chance." She said as she got to her feet. "We'll see what you can do. I'm not promising anything, though,"

* * *

Most days, people would try to stop him multiple times as he made his way through the workplace. The raven-haired, onyx-eyed, pale man attracted the attention of more than a few. Everywhere he went, someone's gaze was upon him—much to his utter annoyance—and work was no exception. But now, no one was stupid enough to bother him for fear of death or worse.

Uchiha Sasuke stormed through the halls of Konoha Corporations with hell at his heels. His black jacket billowed about him as he stalked toward his destination, the phone in his fist nearly cracking from the pressure he was putting on it. His gaze was set in an icy glare and a single name hung on his lips: Itachi.

Sasuke had woken up in…somewhat of a good mood that morning. He wasn't loathing any of the people that he would undoubtedly have to deal with throughout the day, and he wasn't annoyed with his decision of having ever joined the company. He had actually been pleasant with people. In fact, he had a fairly good premonition about how the day was going to go. Apparently said premonition was wrong.

It all started when his first break of the day, and he had been able to check his voicemail. Twenty-seven messages. Twenty-fucking-seven messages. It wouldn't have been that bad if they weren't all addressed to someone by the name of "Sassy Cheeha" from a website horribly named "Color the rainbow with love". Each and everyone of them was from a different man—all of whom sounded like the very essence of gay-cliché**(1)**—saying he would 'Abso-LUTE-ly _love!_' to go out and have drinks with "Sassy" before going to play around a bit. One of them had described each and every little detail of what the man planned to do to "Sassy" and instead of turning Sasuke on—which was most likely the desired effect—it made him want to vomit.

And Sasuke knew exactly who to blame for the messages on his cell phone and the account on some gay hookup website that presumabley had his number written flamboyantly across it. The culprit was the only person who had enough work to neglect to make the stupid account for his own personal amusement. The only person who, along with his boyfriend—who was probably in on it, as well—was constantly saying how he needed to find a good fuck. And the only person who knew of "Sassy Cheecha"—and it sure as hell had better stay that way; no one needed to know that once upon a time when he was younger, Sasuke had an odd lisp, resulting in the odd way of calling himself (the birth of the name "Sassy Cheeha").

It was none another than Uchiha Itachi.

Of course the asshole would change his number, yet again, knowing full well that Sasuke would try to curse him out on a highly expensive international call.

Sasuke flipped open his phone and stabbed speed-dial nine. He turned a sharp corner, impatiently waiting for the ringing to stop and a familiar voice to answer—yes, for once he actually wanted to talk to the perverted man.

'_I know I'm late, Sasuke, but I had to help an old lady cross the street this morning on my way to work and then she just insisted she treat me to cake. So of course I couldn't turn her down! Besides, you should be used to my need to do good deeds by now,'_

Sasuke rolled is eyes; naturally the first thing out of Kakashi's mouth would be an excuse. "If by 'needs to do good deeds' you mean 'need to be a lazy ass mother fucker' then yes, I am perfectly aware,"

_'Maa, maa, so mean,'_ The man whined.

"My phone number. You need to change it," Sasuke stated sternly, searching the halls for the correct room.

_'Ever heard of the word please?'_

"…"

_'Alright, I'll change it, you're highness. But tell me, why the sudden desire for a new number?'_

"Itachi."

And enough was said,

_'I see,'_ Sasuke could here the grin in the man's voice. He got some kind of amusement out of the torture Itachi put Sasuke through. The younger Uchiha was sure that if the two spent enough time together, they would become the best of friends, though Itachi would most likely grow annoyed of the lecherous man overtime and end up killing him.

"Just do it." Sasuke snapped hastily, hanging up and shoving his phone into his pocket.

Earlier, after listening to half of the voicemails, Sasuke had grown fed up and went to find Tsunade, who would undoubtedly have some way to contact Itachi. But, as it turned out, she was not in her office, busy alternating between doing work and getting drunk. He had then went to see out Shizune, the vice president of Konoha Corporation who also part-timed as her boss's babysitter--or at least that's how it seemed. She had given him the location of the blonde woman, and he was off once more. It was a surprise Sasuke hadn't given up yet, after having been sent on this wild goose chase. But then again, Uchiha's never gave up.

Sasuke stopped before the door Shizune had directed him to, somewhat confused. Shizune _had_ said Tsunade was working with a model in room 516, and the door did read '516' but this room, as it turned out, was a deck**(2)**. It was one of many, filled with cameras, lights, props, and other photographic delicacies, that were used for photo shoots. Tsunade hardly ever involved herself with the photographer's duties, however she did sit and watch the models at work—which automatically put pressure on everyone. The only time she took it upon herself to help was when the subject either needed a lot of help or had a lot of potential. So if Shizune's words were true—and they probably were since she had no reason to lie—then Sasuke had some interest in seeing just who exactly the company president was dealing with, and whether the talent was lacking or excelling.

This interest was pushed to the back of his mind as be opened the door of the deck. First things first.

Majority of the many workers froze at the sight of the dark-haired man when he stepped into the deck. He didn't pay them any attention, however, and made a bee-line straight for the only woman in the place who hadn't spotted him the moment he walked in. She was tall, with blonde hair that was pulled into two pigtails. She worse a lavender suit that strained to cover her large bust and hugged her every curve. On her forehead was a blue triangular shaped bindi that she wore everyday. He waited with hardly concealed irritation as Tsunade spoke slowly but purposefully to the photographer. After what seemed to be an eternity of pointless chattering, but was only a few minutes, she looked at Sasuke as if she had only just realized his presence there.

"Oh, Uchiha, do you need something?" Tsunade inquired.

"Yes. Itachi's number," Sasuke said upfront.

Her eyebrows rose slightly. "Why?"

"He changed this number again and that ass—"

"Never mind. I don't want to know, nor do I want to get involved in your little siblings rivalry. What makes you think I have his number, anyway?"

He answered flatly, "You're the president."

"So?" she said. She added under her breath, "I can barely keep up with my work, what makes them think I have time to babysit?"

Someone obviously hadn't had their morning alcohol intake. (Oh, if only Sasuke knew).

The dark-haired man turned to leave but stopped when something (or rather someone) caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. It wasn't because the person had that good of a face, or was even good at what he was doing. It was quite the opposite, really. A slim blonde stood before the plain backdrop awkwardly as if he had just been given appendages and had no idea how to use them. With his over-sized clothes and messy hair, he looked as if he was just, well…there.

At least the earlier question was solved: his talent was _definitely_ lacking.

"I want you to meet him," Tsunade said, her hazel eyes trained on the blonde.

"What? Why?"

"Maybe you can give him a few tips." She winked at him and called the boy over with a loud shout of 'Blondie!' He looked over at her, a grateful and relieved expression overcoming his features, and immediately loped over.

"I want you to meet someone," Tsunade told the blonde as he stopped before the pair. She motioned to Sasuke. "This is Uchiha Sasuke, one of the top models at our company. I'm sure you've heard of him. And Uchiha, this is—"

"I know," stated Sasuke.

"What?" Both blondes said in chorus.

"I know who he is."

"You do?" questioned Tsunade.

The dark-haired man nodded. "I do." He looked at the blonde male. "You're an amateur. Someone who waltzed in here thinking this job is oh so easy, something anyone could do. That's what it looks like to you on television and in all those magazines, doesn't it? You probably think its some way to instant fame, or perhaps you wanted to meet an idol of yours? Either way it's pathetic. It's obvious by your performance that you have no experience or genuine interest in this work. You're a mess, both your expression and movements are stiff," He paused. "Quite frankly, you look like a dumbass,"

Silence in the entire deck followed.

Sasuke turned to Tsunade, "Were those tips good enough?"

The president nodded dully, stuck in a trance between surprise and interest.

Sasuke nodded curtly in affirmation. He turned on his heel and exited the back without another word.

The delayed reaction of Naruto rang through out the building five minutes later.

"You Bastard!"

* * *

**(1)** Who ever can guess what movie I was watching while writing this part gets next chappy dedicated to them ^_^ The gay-cliche part is a hint as well as this quote: "Would the faggot on the table please get down?"

**(2)** I will refer to rooms that photoshoots are taken in as 'decks'.I'm pretty sur ethis isn't what actual photographers would call it...or if there is even a name for it...but for the sake of my sanity this is what it will be called from now on.

* * *

Neh...I really don't like this chapter. But oh well, no matter how many times I rewrite i'm not satisfied. I'm so picky. .

Reviews will make me love you forever! (And give me inspiration).

Ja!


	4. From Now On

**Sorry for my super long absence, everyone! Thanks so much for your support-alerts, favorites,_ reviews! _I'll be updating a lot more often.**

**Disclaimer: **The business deal almost went through...and then it didn't. So I still don't own Naruto, or any of it's characters.

**A/N:** My grandma wears red eyeliner

* * *

'_Yes little brother?'_

"I am going to end you," Sasuke hissed into his phone as he stalked down the street. He glanced around suspiciously from behind his glasses, more paranoid than usual.

At any moment a flamboyantly dressed man could jump out from around a corner, and Sasuke did not have time to mentally prepare himself for that.

'_Is someone having a bad day?'_ Itachi asked condescendingly on the other end of the line.

"I wonder why," he spat as he crossed the street amongst a large mass of people. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted two girls eyeing him from their seat at the café. Dammit, he'd forgotten about them. "Have you made it your personal duty to make my life a living hell?"

'_I had no hand in this Sasuke—God chose me to play this role,'_

"You don't _believe_ in God last time I checked"

'_Well then the answer to your question is yes,_' answered Itachi easily. _'Because if I didn't, who would?'_

"Liste—" Before Sasuke could get his words out, he was rudely interrupted by a second voice joining on the other end of the call.

'_Itachi! Hurry your ass up!' _An irate voice shouted, sounding distant. Even so, Sasuke recognized it immediately.

'_Just a moment Deidara, I'm on the phone,'_ his brother replied as if chastising a child.

'_Ohhhh, are you talking to Sasuke?'_ the voice asked excitedly as it progressively got louder. Before either of the Uchihas could answer, the voice had taken over the phone and was all but shouting into it obnoxiously.

Fucking Deidara.

'_Hi, Sasukeeee'_ the man giggled maniacally, undoubtedly invading Itachi's space by now_. 'So, tell me, have you found a nice boy to take you out on the town yet?'_

"I will fucking kill you,"

'_Aw, that's no fun. If you kill me, Itachi will be so sad—'_

'_I'll live,'_

Deidara ignored him, _'And you'll end up in jail! Then you won't be able to go spend time with all those pretty boys I took the time to find you! Well, technically, they did it themselves, but I did set up your profile so—'_

"You piece of shi—"

'_But I guess if you went to prison we'd get the same end result…But then I wouldn't be able to hear all about it,'_

"Put Itachi back on the damn phone!" Fucking hell, he never thought he'd ever say that. But honestly, Deidara was too annoying for his own good.

A near silent chuckle –more like short bursts of air being exerting out of his nose—alerted Sasuke that Itachi was now in possession of his phone once more.

'_Well, dearest brother, it's been wonderful talking to you, but I have to be going now,'_

"Itachi, I swear to god if you don't take that thing off of that damn web—"

Click.

Sasuke…was going to stab his brother. And his damn boyfriend. That would solve all his problems in an instant. Chances that Kakashi was going to let him out of the country, however, were very low.

Perhaps he could just hire someone to hack the godforsaken website. That could work.

Ideas continued to brew in the Uchiha's mind as he turned the corner and began heading toward his apartment flat. Near there, he was almost home free. Who knew a simple hoodie and aviators could hide his identity so well—maybe he'd go out and join the world of the living every now and then.

Highly unlikely. He preferred the comfort of his living room just fine. It was bad enough that he was forced out for social events.

As he waited on the corner for the pedestrian sign to turn green, he saw a familiar face across the street. Though he had never spoken to the man before, he recognized him immediately as one Inuzuka Kiba, currently ranking quite high in the music industry and doing fairly well in commercial modeling. That's usually how things went in this world: Make it in one place and you're set for the rest. But you could just as easily be brought to your downfall by the inverse, and that's what made things so devastating.

Sasuke wasn't surprised by the fact that Kiba was doing near nothing to hide his face from the masses. Sure, he had a hat shoved over his head, but Sasuke had a feeling that it was more for the sake of his appearance than anything else. Besides, the brunet could easily be identified by the tattoos that stood out so blatantly on his cheeks. It made sense, though. He clearly came off as one who enjoyed all the attention, soaking it up like a sponge, he probably wouldn't mind being mauled by a group of crazed fans as he took a casual stroll down the street.

Sasuke, however, did not share such feelings.

His attention turned to the blonde who walked beside Kiba, the very same one who Sasuke had wasted no time in insulting earlier that day. That was fine, though, because every last words that had come out of his mouth had been true. The blonde really wasn't anything special—average, at best—and was probably just trying to get into the industry as a means to getting closer to some idol he had been stalking for the past god-knows-how-long.

That's how they all were—it really wasn't anything new.

Not to mention the blonde seemed even more obnoxious than Deidara with the way that he was throwing his hands up in the air and using unnecessary amounts of body language as he rambled on to Kiba, mouth moving a mile a minute. And to be more obnoxious than Deidara was quite a feat.

Without another thought the Uchiha crossed the street, the pedestrian light now lit up, and briskly walked the short distance to his flat a few blocks away.

-.-.-

Naruto pouted, tapping his foot impatiently as he slouched even further down in the salon chair. He'd been sitting there for at least five hours and his butt had started hurting half an hour into it.

His day had started off bad, being dragged out of bed by the stupid pervert, and now he fully understand the meaning of the phrase "It can only go downhill from here".

The stupid photo shoot he had been forced into as a means to 'prove himself' had ended shortly after the intrusion from that bastard—the very same bastard who had dared to insult him. Him! The great Naruto Uzumaki!

The man had been familiar to Naruto—his face was on enough magazines, billboards, and commercials for him to be recognized. And it helped that Neji had bitched about the man at every chance he got. Thinking back on it now, he thought it had just been him being the jealous asshole that he was—he never took being the second best well—but now he realized that, for once, Neji was right. This guy was a fucking bastard.

Naruto didn't bother learning his name (he was pretty sure it was something dumb, anyway) because he would join the ranks of Neji and forever and always be known as 'the bastard'.

He would pick up a magazine cover to use as his second dart board on his way home—one with the bastards face plastered across.

Who the hell did he think he was to insult the great Uzumaki? He didn't even know the guy, but the moment he had walked in, he had let out a barrage of insults! Stupid bastard thinking he was better than everyone else. Him and the prick were probably secret best friends—the hating each other (well Neji hating the bastard; from what he gathered when he was 'dating' Neji, the bastard hardly paid attention the prick) was just a ruse.

"For the last time kid, sit up straight," the stylist said as he came back over to his station, fixing Naruto with an exasperated stare. Well Naruto thought it was exasperated, but he'd looked like that since the blonde had arrived so he really didn't know.

Damn old hag making him go to the salon. He was just fine the way he was. Maybe he needed a bit of a trim—but that was it! He wasn't the most beautiful thing to have graced earth but, god damn, it wasn't so bad as to have to sit there for five hours!

It didn't help that his stylist, 'Kimimaro' as he had introduced himself, was pretty much mute. Save for when he was berating Naruto for one thing or another (usually how bad he kept his hair or skin…whatever). And—_And _Kiba hadn't even stuck around! He'd just dropped him off at the salon like it was some daycare center.

"You'll have to come back every month or so, so I can touch up your roots," Kimimaro explained, standing akimbo before the blonde. His hair was stark white—it had to dyed, this guy looked way too young—and just barely fell past his shoulders, tied on either side of his face by red beads. Naruto figured this was the guys favorite color, seeing as he also had red eyeliner on (admittedly, it was kind of creepy, but that was his prerogative) and two round, red tattoos on his forehead. The crisp button up he wore showed off a second tattoo just below his collarbone, though this one was black.

"If you wait too long, the color will grow out, and it will look like shit," he continued, more than a little blunt. Against his will, Naruto's hair had been dyed—well, not entirely. He had been given highlights, and now his hair was (apparently, because he hadn't been allowed to look in the mirror yet) dusted with bleach blonde.

"Also, you need to come back regularly for trims. If you let dead-ends fester, it will also look like shit," Kimimaro said. He handed Naruto a small jar, presumably the one he had left to go retrieve ten minutes ago. "This is for your hair. You only need a small dab; smooth it evenly from root to tip and it will prevent it from getting dry and frizzing up, without making it look greasy," He handed him a tall, purple bottle, not missing a beat as he went on monotonously.

"This is for your skin," Ah, yes. Kimimaro had spent a half an hour, at minimum, raging about how dull and oily Naruto had let his skin become. His skin was just fine, thank you very much! According to Kimimaro it was, 'thankfully' not to for gone and still had a chance at salvation. Ass nugget.

"Wash your face every morning with regular, non-scented, soap and then apply it," He forked over another bottle—this one green.

"Wash your face at night with the same soap, pat dry, wait twenty minutes, and then apply this. Do not forget to moisturizer on in the morning and at night," He handed him the last bottle. Red—saving the best for last.

Naruto looked at the mess of products in his lap with a furrowed brow, trying to remember the directions that had just been dumped on him. Purple…Purple was for the morning. Because purple started with a 'p' and so did pudding…and Naruto liked pudding in the morning. Next was green...Green was for…uhm…

"I've faxed Sundae's secretary the directions, she'll give them to you—tape them on your bathroom mirror or something," the white-haired man said flippantly as he reached past Naruto to grab something from the counter behind him. A moment later, he had a knee planted beside Naruto in his seat and grabbed the blonde's face, leaning half over him.

"W-What the hell are you doing?" Naruto squawked indignantly, squirming around in a feckless attempt to get free considering the man was practically pinning him down. Was no one else in the salon alarmed by this?

"Tsunade said once I did what she told me, I could do whatever I wanted," he said simply.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Stop moving or I'll mess up," Kimimaro demanded, tightening his grip on the blonde's cheeks as he brought something up to his mouth and uncapped it. Naruto winced. The white-haired man leaned forward, at this point practically breathing down the other's throat, and brought a thin eyeliner pen before him.

"What the fuck is that for?"

"If you do not shut up," hissed Kimimaro. "I will stab you in the eye,"

As it turned out, Kimimaro's smile was creepy as all hell.

"Good," he said as he pulled down Naruto's bottom eyelid gently and went to work.

Five minutes later, he climbed off the blonde satisfied. Unclipping the plastic cape from Naruto, he stepped back and examined him from head to toe.

"Stand up,"

Naruto obeyed.

"Turn around,"

He faced the mirror. Hot damn.

-.-.-.-

_Buzz…_

_Buzz._

_Buzz!_

_BUZZ._

A pale hand shot out from under a mountain of blankets, snatching the vibrating cellphone from the bedside table and bringing it face-to-face with a very pissed off, sleep-deprived Uchiha. Whatever inhuman dumb ass who dared to call at this hour was going to die a slow and painful death, removing each organ one-by-one. Sasuke fully expected to see the name of his manager blaring across the screen, but was mildly surprised when, instead, it was the president of Konoha corp.

He supposed he couldn't necessarily kill his boss.

"Hello," he answered flatly into the phone as he forced himself up into a sitting position.

"Sasuke, I haven't woken you up, have I?" The woman on the other end of the line said, clearly not giving a damn. The dark-haired teen glanced at his bed-side clock.

_6:02_

Fucking hell.

"Not at all," he answered dryly. "I'm just having coffee now,"

"Good, so you'll be wide awake,"

"For?"

"I need you to come down to headquarters. Now,"

Before he had a chance to answer, the line went dead.

What was it with people hanging up on him?

-.-.-

Yesterday, he had walked into work with a good mood and a positive prospect on what the day had to bring. His day, however, had quickly turned to shit. Between his brother, some wannabe-newbie, his manager, and the interview that had stretched on well past its allotted time last night, he was going to go absolutely bat-shit insane.

Perhaps now that he was walking into work at seven-fucking-a.m. and his day was already starting out shitty as could be, the rest would go down smoothly. But that was just wishful thinking, and Uchiha Sasuke was a realist.

In the past two day he'd spent far too much time in this building than he cared for.

Stepping off the elevator he headed toward the only door on the floor, leading into the president's office. He gave a short nod to Tsunade's secretary before giving a light knock on the door and waltzing in a moment later.

"Oh _fuck_ no!"

Sasuke sighed inwardly. He couldn't have one day of silence. There always had to be one person—one fucking person!—who felt the need to be unnecessarily loud.

The Uchiha turned a flat glare to the noisy person who had decided shouting at the top of the lungs would be the best way to welcome him into the room. His gaze fell upon an infuriated man who stood with one hand gripping Tsunade's desk and the other fisted at his side. Sasuke couldn't help but feel he looked somewhat familiar.

His hair golden hair stood up in a purposely messy spiked style, pale-blonde pieces standing out in the light that filtered in through the window. Layered bangs lightly fell into multi-hued azure eyes that were framed by thick-eyelashes and seemed to be made more prominent by a faint amount of smudged eyeliner. Three symmetrical marks marred each of his cheeks, making Sasuke wonder vaguely if they were tattoos or scars (But how the hell did you get cuts that deep on your face? They had to be tattoos). Full pink lips were pulled into an obvious frown, though it ended up looking more like a pout.

"There is no way I'm—"

"Shut up, brat, you don't have a choice," Tsunade snapped from behind her desk, knocking back a cup of sake.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the blonde man, the gears slowly turning in his head. Putting two and two together, that annoying voice and god-awful orange sweatshirt the man was wearing, there really wasn't that many people the blonde could've been. Not many had _that_ bad of a taste in clothing.

"The hell I do!" the blonde shouted. "There's a little something called freewill, old lady!"

"And there's something called shutting the fuck up, which I suggest you do," Sasuke spat, at his wits end after being in the room for a mere few seconds. He had a low tolerance for belligerent fools.

"See? I knew you'd be willing to cooperate, Uchiha," said Tsunade, smiling smugly. Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"Cooperate with _what_, exactly?"

"Meet Uzumaki Naruto, you're new best friend for the next couple of days," she was obviously enjoying this. Cruel, sadistic bitch. "Brat, meet Uchiha Sasuke,"

Both men stared at her blankly.

Five…

Four…

Three.

Two.

One.

"What?"

"Oh calm the fuck down," the blonde woman said, rolling her eyes. She began shuffling through the mass of papers that littered her desk as she continued to speak. "Uzumaki, you'll be spending the next couple of days with Uchiha here," she nodded to the dark-haired man. "Uchiha, you'll be Uzumaki's fashion consultant,"

Oh, fuck no. Someone had been drinking too much.

"I think you need to lay off the alcohol, lady," the blonde said, leaning forward and inspecting the woman with suspicious eyes.

"I'm not a babysitter, Tsunade," Sasuke hissed, seething. "We have people to do that, they're called stylists. They can try and get that idiot a sense of fashion—not me,"

"Oi!"

"Sasuke, I'm entrusting this job to you for a reason. Clearly, you are blunt and will drill the rights and wrongs into the brat's head," Tsunade said evenly, ignoring the blonde. "Sure, I could have anyone else do it, but I'm having you do it for a reason. Besides, it'll help you, as well,"

"How exactly will it do that?"

"You're people skills are shit," she said simply, shrugging. The blonde snorted and Sasuke shot a glare his way before turning his attention back to the president.

"In case you've forgotten, I actually have a job of my own," Sasuke uttered, struggling to keep his temper under control. "I barely have a moment to myself, you think I have time for _this_ shit,"

"He'll just tag along,"

"The hell I will!" the blonde cried.

The Uchiha cocked a brow, "What?"

"In between work, you can help Uzumaki out," Tsunade explained, pouring herself another cup of sake. "It'll give him a chance to view the industry first-hand, see what he's getting himself into,"

Sasuke opened his mouth to protest but was cut off by the buxom woman the desk, "There's no point in arguing. Everything is already set up, so you might as well accept it. Kakashi will be by to pick you up in an hour, you two should spend some time getting to know each other. Go for a walk or something,"

She smiled sadistically at the two.

"Just try not to kill each other,"

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it took so long to update, but thanks for all your continuous support you guys! Keep it up and take a few seconds to review!**

**:]**


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